Does Garden Aspect Make much difference?

JimmyVik · 30-06-2020 2:03pm

Dylan94 wrote: »

I'm in the process of searching for a house and had been set all along on a house with a South Facing back garden. Our current house has a south facing garden and we have the sun all day long. We don't work traditional 9-5 jobs and would spend a lot of time in the garden.

I've been told that a North Facing garden will get no sun unless its very long, how true is this? We found a house that would be perfect except it has a North facing garden. Its a semi d so we will have houses either side.

So how important is aspect for getting some sun out the back?

MY parents used to have a bungalow and a north facing garden.
In the summer the shadow of the roof of the house comes out about 1 meter from the house. We actually fought over sitting in that shade on sunny days as there was not much shade to be had.
In the depths of winter the shadow of the tip of the roof was about 7 or 8 meters long. We never sat in the garden from October to March anyway. Its Ireland. Its always cold and wet, sun or no sun.

And there was plenty of sun in the garden from March to October anyway.
Now they live in a house that has a south facing garden. Its just too sunny.

Gardens need light and they need shade.
This attraction of a south facing garden is over rated.

Yellow_Fern · 30-06-2020 3:42pm

awec wrote: »

With most houses in developments having the majority of their windows on the front and back, rather than the sides, it really makes no difference in terms of the house overheating between a north or south aspect.

Either the front of the house will be hot or the back. I wouldn't dismiss south facing cause you're worried about the back being hot, if you go north facing the front will be hot and vice versa.

The biggest drawbacks, as someone with a north facing garden, are:

1. No sun for the first ~10 feet outside the back door, but sun all day in the rest of the garden. Really it means you can't have your outdoor table right outside the back door.
2. Glare on the TV as the sitting room at the front of the house is super-bright.
3. Our bedroom is at the front of the house, so it gets warmed up all day.

That isnt true. People may leave their front windows obscured with curtains but not the back. A lot varies from house to house. Having sun hitting the back of the garden is great for people who want to wall train fruit trees

GreeBo · 30-06-2020 4:01pm

JimmyVik wrote: »

MY parents used to have a bungalow and a north facing garden.
In the summer the shadow of the roof of the house comes out about 1 meter from the house. We actually fought over sitting in that shade on sunny days as there was not much shade to be had.
In the depths of winter the shadow of the tip of the roof was about 7 or 8 meters long. We never sat in the garden from October to March anyway. Its Ireland. Its always cold and wet, sun or no sun.

And there was plenty of sun in the garden from March to October anyway.
Now they live in a house that has a south facing garden. Its just too sunny.

Gardens need light and they need shade.
This attraction of a south facing garden is over rated.

Using a bungalow to prove a point about shade is pretty disingenuous, the tent I live in suffers no issue with shade either!

Also you cant equate shade and sunlight, shade is trivial to make, sun is not.

Finally, Ireland is not cold and wet from October to March, perhaps this is your opinion due to living with a north facing garden?

Personally I was working away in my garden all through that period and it would have been a very different experience were it not for the sunny aspect. This March I spent most days in shorts in the garden.

If you are too sunny, get an umbrella!

JimmyVik · 30-06-2020 5:39pm

GreeBo wrote: »

Using a bungalow to prove a point about shade is pretty disingenuous, the tent I live in suffers no issue with shade either!

Also you cant equate shade and sunlight, shade is trivial to make, sun is not.

Finally, Ireland is not cold and wet from October to March, perhaps this is your opinion due to living with a north facing garden?

Personally I was working away in my garden all through that period and it would have been a very different experience were it not for the sunny aspect. This March I spent most days in shorts in the garden.

If you are too sunny, get an umbrella!

Its not an attack on you.
Just my own experience. North facing gardens are grand. If you have one, dont worry about it.

GreeBo · 30-06-2020 5:42pm

JimmyVik wrote: »

Its not an attack on you.
Just my own experience. North facing gardens are grand. If you have one, dont worry about it.

I didn't take it as an attack!
I'm merely pointing out that a north facing garden behind a bungalow is a very different scenario to a 2 storey semi-d when it comes to light and shade.

pwurple · 01-07-2020 8:14am

By north facing garden, you mean , when standing at the house? Because obviously standing at the garden wall, it's south facing, right? Every house and garden I had, I've had a lovely south-facing garden wall that gets baked, so I pop the table and chairs there, and surround it with plants who love it, but the back wall of the house itself is north facing. In small gardens, you're only talking about taking a few steps here... it's not going to kill you.

To me, for light, all that matters are the boundaries. If you have huge towering buildings, or leylandii, you'll struggle. I took a huge hedge down in one house to make sure we had that light in the garden and house.

And also, I will say that shade and woodland gardens are a gorgeous type of garden. I know the typical garden here is a square of bleached grass with a tiny border of drought suffering plants around it, so if that's what you want.... but a lush garden full of ferns, astrantias, solomon' seal, nodding snowdrops, fragrant daphnes etc, who all love shade, is absolutely beautiful. Nature is pretty adaptive, if you try a woodland garden or japanese garden if you have both shelter and shade, and put the right plants in the right place, it will be fab.

Butterface · 01-07-2020 11:04pm

It all depends on the house, what's surrounding the garden, and realistically how much time you will spend in the garden.

We bought a house in a new development last year and the Estate Agent was really trying to sell us on the houses with S and SW facing gardens up the front of the estate. All of those S/SW houses had houses backed onto the rear of them so that the gardens were overlooked by several houses. I think he was trying to sell them up before anybody copped what a bad choice they were!

We chose from a semi-d at the back end of the estate (same price) which backs onto a smallholding beside a private house i.e. nobody looks into our house/garden (apart from our attached neighbour).

The sun comes up to the back door in the morning until about midday, and only from then the house begins to cast a shadow. We have our patio at the bottom right corner of the garden, which gets the sun until 7.30pm.

Our kitchen/living area at the back of the house has large windows and a skylight, so it is bright regardless of direct sunlight later in the day.

The sitting room at the front of the house gets blasted with heat from the afternoon onwards, but as we only use it in the evenings, it's nice and toasty when we do move in there!

It's all about perspectives. Try visit the house at different times of the day to have a look at the garden. You might be pleasantly surprised.

QuiteInterestin · 01-07-2020 11:53pm

Butterface wrote: »

We chose from a semi-d at the back end of the estate (same price) which backs onto a smallholding beside a private house i.e. nobody looks into our house/garden (apart from our attached neighbour).

What direction did the garden face on the house you chose?

wolfyboy555 · 06-07-2020 10:49pm

What are peoples views on East (slightly NE) facing garden. House ticks a lots of boxes but worries about this one. We would hope to do an extension to the kitchen dining to bring it out further into the garden. Would this create further shadow? From what we have seen the back of the garden is getting some sun in the evening as well as a sliver up the left hand side as there is no house immediately to the left of the house. We would just be worried that the extension would not get any sun through it in afternoon evening and make it full but would skylights improve this?

Yellow_Fern · 06-07-2020 11:04pm

wolfyboy555 wrote: »

What are peoples views on East (slightly NE) facing garden. House ticks a lots of boxes but worries about this one. We would hope to do an extension to the kitchen dining to bring it out further into the garden. Would this create further shadow? From what we have seen the back of the garden is getting some sun in the evening as well as a sliver up the left hand side as there is no house immediately to the left of the house. We would just be worried that the extension would not get any sun through it in afternoon evening and make it full but would skylights improve this?

The back of the garden might be ideal for a patio at the back wall with fan trained apples, fig or even grape. Your extension with will be ideal for sunlight breakfasts in winter.

anewme · 07-07-2020 12:46am

Lived in a north facing house with trees at the back. Back of house was dark, mossy and had to have lights on at 11am am in the day. Had no idea about orientation so did not know why house got no sun. Sun was going over the house to the end of the garden. The back of the house was dull and depressing.

Moved and making sure was not caught again, bought south facing house, paid premium I think was 20k.

I've no problem paying it as it is for the life of the house. No extension, rooflights or renovation can bring the light in when it does not come in.

Front of house needs to be kept clean, as it gets damp and mossy. I feel sorry for he houses opposite as their back gardens are like that. I do get the sun in front, very late in evening, but you cant beat sitting out in the mornings in the back with a coffee and having the garden bright all day. . Sunlight makes things seem more positive.

100 percent would only buy south or west. Too big a compromise.

charlietheminxx · 07-07-2020 9:38am

We paid an extra €10k for a SW facing house. Truth be told, it's more W-SW than properly SW but we get sun in the back garden for most of the day and I feel it was worth the extra cash. It's lovely in the evening.

Also it means our living room and bedroom on the north side of the house are a bit cooler in the evening. New houses get very hot so we were glad of this during the fine weather.

Yellow_Fern · 07-07-2020 12:07pm

One thing that no one pointed out is that is it in some respect ideal if at least one side of the house faces pure south. Many houses only face east or west and they get solar installed but it doesn't perform so well because it lacks noon sun. If you have a south facing garden you can get solar discreetly on back of your house which is great.

anewme wrote: »

I've no problem paying it as it is for the life of the house. No extension, rooflights or renovation can bring the light in when it does not come in.

Ah you clearly never heard of the CoeLux® artificial window. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM8psaLBsr8&feature=emb_title
The future is here

anewme · 07-07-2020 12:37pm

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Ah you clearly never heard of the CoeLux® artificial window. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM8psaLBsr8&feature=emb_title
The future is here

In a way that is what I am talking about.

Would absolutely hate something like that.

The rooms look like caves. Totallly depressing.

The Nal · 07-07-2020 12:42pm

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Ah you clearly never heard of the CoeLux® artificial window. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM8psaLBsr8&feature=emb_title
The future is here

Its like some sort of rapey tanning salon.

Yellow_Fern · 07-07-2020 2:11pm

anewme wrote: »

In a way that is what I am talking about.

Would absolutely hate something like that.

The rooms look like caves. Totallly depressing.

I think they look amazing. Like real sun, but never overcast.

Grawns · 07-07-2020 2:38pm

I grew up in a South facing house and purchased a South facing house. Premium didn't come I to it as it was non negotiable. I work from home and the back of the house is always light and airy. I have a lovely suntrap patio etc but it doesn't matter so much to me as I don't like sun bathing and rarely sit out though I love gardening. What I want is a bright warm airy indoors looking out onto greenery. Think! would you buy an apartment that was North or east facing! It's the quality of light inside that makes all the difference to your health and wellbeing. Now add a Seaview and that would be heaven....

Butterface · 16-07-2020 10:06am

QuiteInterestin wrote: »

What direction did the garden face on the house you chose?

North-East

wolfyboy555 · 20-10-2020 5:10pm

Just wondering would I get any decent sun with the plot I have highlighted in the attachment or would the house to the left block it as it moves around?

awec · 20-10-2020 5:14pm

You'd get loads of sun IMO. In the summer you're likely to get sun from late morning right through til sunset.

The house to the left is not likely to be a factor from early afternoon onward. In the summer, it's probably not going to be much of an issue at any point of the day, since it's directly south if you when the sun is at it's highest in the sky anyway.

Thargor · 20-10-2020 5:34pm

It has to make a big difference to heating bills aswell, the sun streams in through the patio doors most of the day into our kitchen and with the doors open downstairs it feels like the central heating is on during the day sometimes when you come in even though it only comes on at 7pm.

21-10-2020 2:26pm

I have a north facing garden. It's fine. Would I prefer south facing? Yeah absolutely. But it's fine. People saying it's damp and musty or whatever is a load of old rubbish. If in future we decide to move and we find the right house in the right location that just happens to be north facing, it won't stop us.

I grew up in a west facing house and it make the back of the house a furnace in the summer, honestly I nearly found it worse.

listermint · 21-10-2020 2:28pm

Avery Scruffy Barbell wrote: »

I have a north facing garden. It's fine. Would I prefer south facing? Yeah absolutely. But it's fine. People saying it's damp and musty or whatever is a load of old rubbish. If in future we decide to move and we find the right house in the right location that just happens to be north facing, it won't stop us.

I grew up in a west facing house and it make the back of the house a furnace in the summer, honestly I nearly found it worse.

But why would you prefer south.

You just said it's a load of rubbish..

. ....

21-10-2020 3:42pm

listermint wrote: »

But why would you prefer south.

You just said it's a load of rubbish..

. ....

Odd post, I did not say that.

cubatahavana · 21-10-2020 6:25pm

Buying first house myself.

Always living in an apartment (Duplex with south facing terrace/livingroom). I never considered orientation until I went sale agreed and saw one of these posts here. Immediately checked my garden (SE). Out of curiosity I drove to the showhouse to have a look at their garden, as it is the opposite of mine (one house behind another). Both SE and NW garden had enough sun on them in the afternoon. When I drove another day in the morning and another in the evening, the difference was small, in the evening the NW garden would have a bit of shade behind the house. The SE garden lost the sun a little bit earlier than the NW. Bottomline. I didn't see any difference that would push me one way or the other.

GreeBo · 21-10-2020 8:10pm

cubatahavana wrote: »

Buying first house myself.

Always living in an apartment (Duplex with south facing terrace/livingroom). I never considered orientation until I went sale agreed and saw one of these posts here. Immediately checked my garden (SE). Out of curiosity I drove to the showhouse to have a look at their garden, as it is the opposite of mine (one house behind another). Both SE and NW garden had enough sun on them in the afternoon. When I drove another day in the morning and another in the evening, the difference was small, in the evening the NW garden would have a bit of shade behind the house. The SE garden lost the sun a little bit earlier than the NW. Bottomline. I didn't see any difference that would push me one way or the other.

What time of year though?
North facing will have sun in the garden in summer but not much if any during winter.

kippy · 21-10-2020 8:22pm

It depends on the whole package I reckon myself.
Is it a big garden, is there a big shared space, what is the house itself like, the surrounding houses?
For me, I'd look at the bigger picture and wouldn't rule a place in or out based on garden aspect. Current house has large north facing garden.

cubatahavana · 21-10-2020 9:13pm

GreeBo wrote: »

What time of year though?
North facing will have sun in the garden in summer but not much if any during winter.

It was in around September

salmocab · 22-10-2020 8:25am

cubatahavana wrote: »

Buying first house myself.

Always living in an apartment (Duplex with south facing terrace/livingroom). I never considered orientation until I went sale agreed and saw one of these posts here. Immediately checked my garden (SE). Out of curiosity I drove to the showhouse to have a look at their garden, as it is the opposite of mine (one house behind another). Both SE and NW garden had enough sun on them in the afternoon. When I drove another day in the morning and another in the evening, the difference was small, in the evening the NW garden would have a bit of shade behind the house. The SE garden lost the sun a little bit earlier than the NW. Bottomline. I didn't see any difference that would push me one way or the other.

In summer a north facing garden will have you sitting facing the house to get sun on your face. It’s not a big deal but I’d prefer to face down the garden. It won’t be show stopper to many but it depends on how you use your garden. Mine faces generally west maybe SW we get great sun from late morning till the sun goes down. We don’t have a huge garden and some of the neighbours on the opposite side of the road sit in their front gardens in the evening.

Does Garden Aspect Make much difference?

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